Category Archives: Now Hear This!

Just in time for Epiphany, a film of the University Chamber Choir performing Star of the East by composer Russell Hepplewhite; the Choir sang the piece live on BBC Radio 4 last month, here’s the complete piece in a recording in made in Colyer-Fergusson Hall.

With grateful thanks to the composer and to Banks Music Publishing for permission to make the recording.

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of the American composer, concert-pianist and educator, Amy Beach. She achieved widespread recognition not only for her compositions but also for her career as a concert-pianist, performing in both America and Europe. Known as the ‘Dean of American Composers’ after the premiere of her Gaelic Symphony in 1896, she became a major figure representing women working in the arts at a time when – as still – it was dominated by men, and establishing an identity for herself was a struggle. On concert-stages throughout Europe, she flourished as a performer of both her own works as well as the usual bastions of piano repertoire. Her legacy includes a wealth of choral and orchestral music, songs, a piano concerto (written to demonstrate her own capabilities) and chamber music.

To celebrate her anniversary, here are two pieces from her delightful Children’s Album, Op.36 – a collection which displays her lyrical creativity, a boisterous sense of fun matched with a highly expressive harmonic ear, and also, in the ‘Waltz,’ a wonderful melodic sense tinged ever so slightly with a hint of melancholy. Both pieces are played in the concert-hall by Your Loyal Correspondent.

Amy Beach: Waltz

Amy Beach: March

And here is the charming Columbine from her Op.25 set, Children’s Carnival.

Have you ever seen someone dance to Funkin’ for Jamaica in a library ? Well, now you can…

Bringing the disco vibe to unexpected public spaces is the work of Yasmeena Goosani, one of the students taking part in Reverberate, the end-of-year exhibition Fine Art Degree Show given by students in the School of Music and Fine Art at the Historic Dockyard in Chatham, which also includes work by third-year Music Scholar and clarinettist, Megan Boyle. The exhibition opens in May, and promises an exploration of society, culture and interaction with space, as well as an inflatable banana, some broken meringues and a fridge.

Intrigued ? Find out more on the exhibition’s website here, or catch up on their Facebook Page here. It all starts in a few weeks’ time…

The weekly programme dedicated to all things choral has a regular feature, ‘Meet My Choir,’ and last Sunday, Dr Michael Hughes – lecturer in linguistics in the School of English and a member of the Cecilian Choir – introduced the Choir, its ethos and its place within the University community. The musicians can be heard during the episode performing Monteverdi’s Beatus Vir.

The feature is permanently on the Radio 3 website here: click here to listen.

This was quite extraordinary; transcending time and space, intimate music speaking on a global scale, part of a complete survey of the Bach solo Partitas over the course of two concerts at this year’s BBC Proms. Lithe, effortless music, played with breath-taking skill, total commitment and a profound connection to the piece by Alina Ibragimova, Bach draws the outline of humanity in filigree violin arabesques; reaching beyond the intimate nature of the solo instrument to touch every listener.

I shamelessly admit to weeping openly during the performance of the D minor Partita when it was broadcast on BBC4 recently; be careful, you might too…

Ahead of CantiaQuorum‘s concert next week, listen to Handel’s Silete Venti which will appear in the ensemble’s programme next Friday.

The wonderfully bustling fugato opening, depicting the wind scurrying through the branches, is interrupted at two and a half minutes into the opening sinfonia by the soprano, as she bids them ‘be silent.’

Just before the six-minute mark, the wonderful aria Dulcis amor shows Handel in sublime melodic form, as does Date serta, date flores (Give garlands, give flowers), starting at 13′ 09”, which later becomes dramatic and highy flamboyant for both soloist and ensemble alike, before the piece concludes with a sprightly Alleluia.

Soprano Susanna Hurrell (currently to be heard in the Royal Opera’s production of L’Ormindo) will be the soloist with CantiaQuorum next week; it promises to be wonderful opportunity to hear this astonishing piece performed live. Tickets and details here.

As those of you who follow us on Twitter will have seen, last term we took a trip around the University of Kent’s Monopoly board, commissioned as part of our fiftieth-anniversary celebrations. Now you can experience the entire odyssey in eighty seconds…

Here at Music Matters, your loyal correspondent is of course utterly dedicated to bringing you all the latest news from Colyer-Fergusson, heading fearlessly off in pursuit of the hottest gossip and most recent events.

In this spirit of dashing journalism, your loyal correspondent bravely set foot aboard the Kent Wheel yesterday, and was lofted into the skies over the University campus, armed with only a smartphone and an indomitable spirit, ready to undergo the most testing of physical hardships just to bring you, gentle Reader, another exciting, white-knuckle experience courtesy of the Music department.